Job discrimination charges jump 9% in 2007

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

WASHINGTON — Federal job discrimination complaints filed by workers against private employers shot up 9% last year, the biggest annual increase since the early 1990s.

...

Overall, the commission said complaints increased to 82,792 charges filed last fiscal year from 75,768 in 2006. That's the highest complaint level since 2002, and the biggest annual percentage increase since 1993.

...

Allegations of discrimination based on race were the leading category of complaints — 30,510 in all, or 37% of all filings, said the commission, which enforces federal anti-discrimination laws among private employers.

Charges based on retaliation accounted for 26,663 of the complaints, about 32% of all filings with the commission. For the first time retaliation was the second most frequent complaint, surpassing sex-based charges. Retaliation charges were up 18% to a record high.

Sex discrimination complaints totaled 24,826 of the filings, 30% of the overall cases.

Several other categories tracked by the commission also saw double-digit percentage increases, including complaints about age and disability discrimination. Complaints about discrimination based on pregnancy saw a big increase, up 14% to 5,587 charges — a record high.

The only major category to see a decrease was complaints involving equal pay, which slipped to 818 from 861, accounting for 1% of all cases filed.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/20...imination_N.htm

[*JG* 2]

Charges are one thing.....actually getting any resolve to it is another.

Been there and I can tell you our legal system is nothing like a Law & Order episode!

[peejay 327]

Where are the statistics on how many allegations are actually substantiated?

In my many years in the workforce I have seen many unqualified and incompetent people that are totally clueless or they figure they have nothing to lose by filing unfounded allegations.

You have to have your duckies in a row if you wish to file a complaint or to fire someone for disciplinary actions. Ditto about complaining about being passed over for promotion.

[GaryC 7]

It's the mindset of a lot of people these days. 20 years ago I had a union job. One day I screwed up very badly and they fired me. I have to admit that I deserved to get canned. As I was cleaning out my locker my union rep came up and said, "don't worry, you will be back in 2 days". I asked how and he said he would file a discrimination complaint for me. I said I wasn't discriminated against, I fukced up. He said it didn't matter we could do it anyway. The company will take you back rather than mess with it. I declined and left. He thought I was nuts. I thought he was part of the problem with our work force and it's decline.

[Niels Bohr 72]

That number is mixed. There's a correlation between unemployment rate and discrimination. The higher the employment rate, the higher the rate of reported discrimination. I forgot where I read that from. I'll post the link when I find it.